Palo Alto: Council to review 'organic facilities plan'

By Jason Green

Daily News Staff Writer

Posted:
04/28/2014 11:20:18 PM PDT

Updated:
04/29/2014 12:35:25 AM PDT

The city of Palo Alto is better positioned than the private sector to build a complex that can turn food scraps, yard trimmings and biosolids into energy, according to a proposal the City Council is set to review today.

City staff is seeking the council's blessing to move ahead with an "organics facilities plan" at the Regional Water Quality Control Plant. The four-part proposal would cost nearly $77 million to implement but reduce annual greenhouse gas emissions by 5,260 metric tons.

According to a 24-page report prepared for the council, similar proposals from Synagro, Harvest Power and We Generation would cost between $97.1 million and $107 million. And only We Generation's would match the emissions reduction figure of the city's plan with 5,291 metric tons.

"The (organics facilities plan) provides the city and the Regional Water Quality Control Plant partners the best option for short-term resilience, long-term cost-savings, energy production and reduction in greenhouse gas emissions," the report from the Public Works Department said.

The proposals, including the one put forward by the city, are a response to widespread community interest in building a complex that can handle food scraps, yard trimmings and biosolids locally.

But the effort has pitted environmentalists against one another, largely because of how the city's closed landfill might be used to partially fulfill the objective. Some argue the site is well-suited for a complex while others maintain the city shouldn't deviate from a plan to turn it into a park.

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Voters, however, had the last say and agreed in 2011 to set aside 10 acres for a potential complex.

Up to 3.8 acres of the Measure E site could be used to process yard trimmings in the city's proposal.

According to the report, the city's proposal is cheaper largely because of lower borrowing costs. The city would pay 2.5 percent interest while the private sector would pay 4 percent. Similarly, the city wouldn't have to spend as much operating and maintaining the facility.

The city's plan is also more economical because it would be rolled out in phases, the report said.

The first phase involves building a $12 million facility to dry out and haul away sewage sludge. It would give the city the flexibility to get rid of its biosolids in the event of an emergency and allow for the decommissioning of greenhouse gas-spewing incinerators that currently do the job.

A $57 million anaerobic digester would follow, according to the report. It would be used to convert biosolids and, eventually, food scraps into biogas. The biogas, in turn, would be used to produce electricity, which could either be sold or used to power the Regional Water Quality Control Plant.

In the third phase, a roughly $9 million facility would be built to prepare food scraps for the digester.

Finally, the city would keep tabs on advances in technology for converting yard trimmings into energy, the report said. The 3.8 acres of the Measure E site could be used for such a facility, but until then, the city would continue to ship its trimmings to Z-Best in Gilroy.

According to the report, the organics facilities plan, if approved, could be fully implemented by 2022.

WHAT: The Palo Alto City Council is scheduled to review a “organics facilities plan” for converting food scraps, yard trimmings and biosolids into energy.WHEN: Tuesday, 6 p.m.WHERE: Council Chambers, City Hall, 250 Hamilton Ave.